Friday, 29 October 2010

Bend it, shape it, anyway you want it...

Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) is a pain in the derrière and that's a fact. It grows everywhere, the nuts sprout in places I cannot believe and it's seedlings are hard to pull. I even find it making an appearance popping up between the stone from which the tobacco drying barn was constructed.

Well alright, perhaps I'm being unfair. Sure enough it's successful at getting established just about anywhere, but in reality it's a vital part of a woodland habitat, the nut is frequently a confectioner's first ingredient of choice and importantly for me, it's young branches are very flexible.

I've taken time out over the last couple of days cutting lengths of both hazel and alder (which grows in abundance along the river bank), as with each being so malleable they make the ideal material to form plant supports.

I literally just take eight similar sized branches, sharpen the thickest ends and push them into the ground to form a circle. Each stem is then folded back over each other and secured with pieces of jute string which looks much more rustic than synthetic fibres. I then weave a couple of rows of 'whippy' branches around the cage, again tying in with string.

Above, the support nearest is not quite finished as the remaining side shoots just need to be folded and woven in to complete the structure.

When finished, I gently prise the cage out of the ground - it holds it shape - and that's it, done.Stored somewhere dry this winter they'll firm up, and then, next spring I'll put them out into position early so that the plants grow up and through them easily.

These are wonderful,Rob. Wish I had your Hazel problem;-) My problem is acorns, which are from the oak trees...literally everywhere in my yard. I don't think there's a spot in the front, back or sides of my house that does not have several inches thick with the things! It's gonna take a shop-vac (or stronger) to get them off the ground. In the spring the seedlings are nearly impossible to pull out. But the oak trees are lovely so I have to take the bad with the good, as you are doing. I'm sure your plant supports would sell like hot-cakes in the right market! Glad you are able to put the branches to good use!

I love your plant supports! I'll have to see if we have any branches around here that would work. I have a few trellises a neighbor made before he got into sculpting with saws. One of these days, I hope to do a post on him and his work. Maybe he'll have some twigs that will work.